Bellamy Brothers may sue Britney Spears

After releasing a Tuesday statement directed at popstar Britney Spears, the Bellamy Brothers have the media buzzing worldwide. Most are asking the question, "Will we see a lawsuit?" It's possible. Earlier today, the brothers' Nashville publicist confirmed the group has indeed decided to "weigh their legal options." The country music duo is claiming Spears ‘ripped off’ their 1979 hit, “If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body, Would You Hold It Against Me” with her new single, “Hold It Against Me.”

In the time since the Bellamys released their public statement, the media coverage has poured in from all around the world. TMZ was the first to provide coverage, posting both songs and asking viewers to vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in a poll titled, ‘Britney’s song – rip off?’ Celebrity news blogger Perez Hilton titled his post on the topic, “Is Britney’s ‘Hold It Against Me’ a rip-off?” Tuesday, in talking with Entertainment Weekly, David Bellamy, still a bit surprised by the happenings, admitted, “It’s not every day that you get into the middle of a brawl with Britney Spears.” On Spears’ new single, “Hold It Against Me,” Bellamy reaffirmed his stance with the Boston Herald by stating, “When I did listen to her song, I thought ‘Well this is rather unoriginal.’”

Yahoo! News Music blogger Chris Willman made an interesting deduction when he noted that "Hold It Against Me" writers Dr. Luke and Max Martin seem to have a past history of snagging similar song titles of yesteryear for new music, specifically Katy Perry's "California Gurls" and "I Kissed A Girl." Willman writes, "There does seem to be a bit of a pattern emerging in the Dr. Luke/Max Martin camp, where everything old is new again, when it comes to appropriating familiar old titles or lyrical hooks. Dr. Luke has said in interviews that he's not that much of a lyric guy, so it seems entirely likely that Katy Perry was responsible for borrowing those earlier titles—and that Britney had this one pop into her head, after almost certain exposure to it growing up in the South."

Additional coverage of the Spears / Bellamy debate includes the LA Times, New York Post, The Howard Stern Show, The CBS Early Show, Bob & Tom, Philadelphia Inquirer, Orlando Sentinel, Houston Press, Grand Rapids Press, Salt Lake Tribune, Tennessean, the Associated Press, Metro (UK), The Himalayan Times (Nepal), The Huffington Post, CNN, AOL, MSN, CMT.com, GACTV.com and The Examiner, among others.

YouTube subscribers have also taken notice of the national buzz. Several users have already created their own “mashup” videos, which combine musical portions of each song, making it one. Click here, to view a recent upload.

For more information on the Bellamy Brothers, visit www.bellamybrothers.com.